This invention relates to the production of special effects for amusement park rides, games, and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for simulating the visible and audible characteristics of a laser weapon being fired by a player or participant, while retaining the realism which would be associated with such a laser device.
As explained hereafter, the problems incumbent in devising and using actual lasers--much less laser weapons--in confined quarters with human participants, are both so numerous and serious that an effective yet safe substitute for a laser weapon is needed for use in amusement applications.
Most lasers used in scientific and industrial applications have relatively low output wattages, and have beams with a dramatic cross-sectional diameter of one-eighth inch or less. The difficulty and expense of producing a visible laser with a larger, more dramatic beam diameter approaching those shown in film and television representations increase geometrically with the beam diameter. Such a laser would have an extraordinarily high energy consumption, and would require continual recharging due to is enormous power drain for each discharge. Even at lower powers, the cost of the appropriate lasable materials, electric components, and lenses would be unduly expensive. It is also desirable to have a system which may be operated for long periods of time.
The environmental and operating conditions for the apparatus are additional factors which must be considered. Lasers, particularly high output lasers, require the temperature and humidity to be uniform and controlled. Particulate matter such as dust, smoke, or pollutants in the atmosphere can be very damaging to a laser, and require the inclusion of air filters, lens cleaners, and air-tight shrouds in the system.
It is desirable to have an apparatus which may be operated by a person of average skill and intelligence, with a minimum of instruction, but who may still improve his performance with the apparatus given the benefit of experience.
Also, accounting for the range of temperaments one might expect to find in a cross section of the ordinary population, it would be necessary to construct an apparatus which could be subjected to vigorous and at times abusive treatment.
There is, of course, also the danger of physical injury which may result from using an optical laser of any intensity. Blindness, burns, or exposure to toxic chemicals if one of the laser tubes should overheat or break are real concerns for skilled technicians using lasers in a controlled setting, much less for operators having less training and using the devices in a relatively uncontrolled manner. These problems are only compounded when an array of many lasers is contemplated, rather than a single source.
There are also difficulties in effectively simulating a pulsed laser beam--foremost being the production of parallel rays of light from a non-coherent point source. To produce a short light pulse, it is possible to turn a bulb quickly on and then off to produce a flash. Repeating this flash would create staccato bursts of light similar to those produced by the capacitors in a laser weapon being rapidly charged and discharged However, because the filament of the bulb does not heat and cool instantaneously, there is a time delay in starting and ending each flash or pulse which tends to diminish the effect created. Such continued heating and cooling also dramatically reduces bulb life. One method to enhance the light pulse effect is to replace the bulb with an electronic strobe light or flash lamp which produces a high intensity, short duration light pulse by electric discharge in a gas. Such electronic flash units are relatively expensive, however, and because they employ a tube of gas rather than a filament, it is difficult to incorporate them in a system to produce an envelope of parallel light rays as desired. Additionally, the obstacles of limiting the afterglow of standard bulbs and simulating incremental bursts of high intensity light without allowing a viewer to detect how the effect is accomplished must be overcome. Finally, there is the problem of simultaneously timing, registering, and recording the operators' success in aiming and firing the simulated weapons at the proposed targets.